Long-haul trucker for 37 years
Larry Lee Brink, 76, died Saturday, Jan. 24, at Eben Ezer Hospice in Brush.
Brink was a long-haul trucker for 37 years.
He is survived by his wife, Nadine Brink of Snyder; one daughter, Krysty Harvey of Sand Point, Idaho; three stepdaughters, Chris, Denise and Kathy, all of Denver; and two granddaughters.
A memorial service will be held at 11:30 p.m. Saturday at Treadway Wildlife Preserve, MCR V.5, in Snyder. Services will conclude at the preserve.

Walter E. Longacre

1925 - 2009

Farmed in area for 67 years
Walter E. Longacre, 83, lifelong Fort Morgan area resident, died Wednesday morning at his daughter’s home in Log Lane Village.
Longacre was born Dec. 15, 1925, in Fort Morgan to Walter A. and Myrtle (Jones) Longacre.
He married Lillian Wacker on March 5, 1950, in Fort Morgan. He farmed north of Fort Morgan for 67 years before he retired.
Longacre enjoyed driving around the farm checking the cattle, fixing fence and baling hay. He also enjoyed building things from wood; tables, wishing wells, bird houses and benches were just a few of his favorites.
He is a past president of the Farmers Union and served the organization in the late 1960s.
Longacre is survived by his wife, Lillian of Fort Morgan; his children, Carol Conrad of Bear River, Wyo., Wally Longacre of Fort Morgan, Willy Longacre of Loveland, and Betty Longacre, John Longacre and Donald Longacre, all of Fort Morgan; two sisters, Velma Luce of Fort Morgan and Cleo Zarbock of Log Lane Village; eight grandchildren; nine great grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Laurence, and his parents.
A visitation will be held Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Heer & Dahl Mortuary in Fort Morgan.
A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Heer & Dahl Mortuary Chapel in Fort Morgan. Interment will follow in the Memory Gardens Cemetery.
Friends who wish may make memorial donations to the charity of their choice.
The Heer & Dahl Mortuaries are in charge of the arrangements.

Marian Eileen Segelke

Active in creation of local college
Marian “Eileen” Segelke, 83, formerly of Wiggins, Colo., died Monday, Jan. 19, 2009, at the home of her daughter after a long illness.
Born in Fort Morgan, Colo., she was the daughter of the late Seth and Viola Harshman. She was previously married to the late Virgil Segelke (8/08) and they lived in Wiggins with their four children. She was a retired school teacher and member of the American Legion Auxiliary. She was also active in the creation of the Fort Morgan Community College.
In 1970, she moved to Santa Maria, Calif., with her two youngest children. While there she worked for a local florist and fulfilled her love of plants and flowers. Her garden was her paradise. She returned to Colorado after 17 years and lived there for several years until she moved to South Carolina in 2004 for health reasons. She always loved Colorado and considered it her home.
Surviving are her son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Diane Segelke of Fort Morgan, her son, Brian Segelke of Denver, and her daughter, Cherryl Warner of Anderson, S.C. Her youngest son, Lloyd, predeceased her in 2006 and has welcomed her into Heaven. She also has two grandchildren, Michael Segelke and Michel Price, and five great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind her special caregiver, Koreen Sweet, and her four-legged companions, Maggie, Duke and Jake.
For the past 2-1/2 years, she has been under the loving care of Hospice of the Upstate, which allowed her to live at home and maintain her independence. As a result of that special relationship, many friendships were born, many lives were touched and we all received the miracle of more time with her.
For her friends and family, a memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, at the Wiggins Community Church, 417 Dickson St., Wiggins, Colo. The family will receive friends following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of one’s choice.

Lyle E. Naill

1927 - 2009

Oilfield worker ranched in retirement
Lyle E. Naill, 81, of Fort Morgan died early Monday morning, Feb. 2, 2009, at his home with his family at his side. He suffered briefly with lung cancer.
Lyle was born June 9, 1927, to Samuel & Nellie (Bates) Naill in Wiggins, Colo. He was raised and attended school there. He was drafted into the Army on his 18th birthday — the last draft of WWII in Morgan County. Lyle was stationed in Japan with the 8th Army, 58th antiaircraft artillery, as elevation tracker on radar set. He was honorably discharged in September 1947.
Sixty years ago Lyle met Elsie Brandt. They married at the Christ Congregational Church in Fort Morgan on June 26, 1949.
Lyle spent 35 years in the oilfields as a roughneck, driller, tool pusher and consultant. He worked with interesting people who became his good friends and he valued the learning experiences of his job. His last job was in Craig, Colo., in April 1982. Lyle had always hoped to ranch in “retirement.” He enjoyed all livestock. In May 1983 he was able to purchase the Murphy Ranch in the Hoyt area where he raised horses, longhorn cattle, sheep, goats, puppies and chickens. Lyle had lots of fun on the ranch. It became the family project and a wonderful gathering place for everyone. It was a pleasant life — the livestock, the outdoor freedom and the Hoyt neighborhood.
Lyle especially loved horses. He was a charter member of the Morgan Saddle Club, which was established in the summer of 1949. He is still a member today and is also a member of the AQHA, APHA and the Jockey Club.
Lyle is survived by his wife, Elsie of Fort Morgan; his son, Gary of Sterling; two daughters, Lynell and her husband Howard Lebsock of Fort Collins, and Lori and her husband Dennis Elliott of Tulsa, Okla.; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Hazel Knutzen; and five brothers, Herbert, Gaylord, Melvin, Doyle and Don.
Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, 2009, at the Heer & Dahl Mortuary Chapel in Fort Morgan. Lyle will be carried by horse-drawn hearse from the chapel to Riverside Cemetery
in Fort Morgan where he will be laid to rest in the family plot next to his brothers. Military honors will be conducted by VFW Post 2551.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Hospice & Palliative Care of Northern Colorado in care of the Heer & Dahl Mortuary, 225 E. Platte Ave., Fort Morgan, CO 80701.

David Carey

1955 - 2009

Welder became certified flight instructor
David Keith Carey, 53, a resident of Wray, died Thursday, Jan. 15.
Carey was born July 24, 1955, in Springfield, Ill., to Harry and Betty Gwillim Carey. He graduated from Augusta High School in Augusta, Kan. He carried on his father’s trade as a pipeline welder, learning from his dad. Carey traveled the country welding for nearly 20 years. He married Lynn Miller of Wichita, Kan., on Aug. 13, 1977.
He later married Sue Frame of Wray on June 22, 1985.
Carey earned his private pilot’s license in June 1985 and obtained his commercial pilot’s license in March 1994, shortly after he went to work for JW Operating Company. His next big accomplishment was to become a certified flight instructor.
When he wasn’t flying, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, tinkering in his garage or spending time with his grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Sue of Wray; daughters, Cheyanne Hinkle and Terri Blecha, both of Yuma, Jennifer Leck of Aurora, Amy Sullivan of Wichita, Kan., Renee Odell of Greeley and Jessica Carey of Greeley; his parents; siblings, Connie Self, Karen Hufman, Betty Jo Wheat and Jim Carey, all of Augusta, Kan., Annamae Carey of Columbia, La., Mike Carey of Thornton and Sharon Corder of Alva, Okla.; and nine grandchildren.
Carey was preceded in death by a son, Beaux Jardeen.
Memorial services were held at the First Christian Church in Wray at 10 a.m. with Rev. Steve Wynkoop officiating.
Memorials may be made to the David K. Carey Memorial Fund.
Spellman-Schmidt Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Slade Paul Thompson

1970 - 2009

Enjoyed horses and outdoors
Slade Paul Thompson, 38, died Sunday, Jan. 25, in rural Logan County.
Thompson was born Dec. 18, 1970, in Colorado Springs to David and Charlotte (Hansen) Thompson. He graduated in Battle Mountain, Nev., in 1990 and attended Bible College in Colorado Springs. Thompson worked on ranches and feedlots in Colorado, Nevada, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. He worked for J-W Oil rigs and in 2004 fell and hurt his neck.
He married Christina Allen Spelts on June 9, 2000, at Eckley, Colo.Thompson enjoyed team roping and loved horses and the outdoors.
He is survived by his wife, Christina; sons, Jonathan and Seth Thompson; his parents of Battle Mountain, Nev.; two sisters, Nikki Cook of Clayton, Kan., and Wendy Jarrard of Casper, Wyo.; a brother, T. J. Thompson of Orovada, Nev.; and grandparents, Sweede and Laura Hansen of Yoder, Colo., and Vera Thompson of Colorado City.
Thompson was preceded in death by his grandfather, George N. Thompson.
Funeral services was held at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, at the Eckley Community Church in Eckley with Don Smith officiating. Interment was in the Eckley Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Slade P. Thompson Memorial Fund, c/o Spellman-Schmidt Funeral Home, 427 Adams St., Wray, CO 80758.

Cecil (Doone) E. Vesy

Cecil (Doone) E. Vesy died on Monday, Aug. 28, at the Grandview Care Center in Sun City West, Ariz.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 9, at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Sun City West, Ariz., with interment and a reception to follow.

In the 1930s, Mr. Vesy’s parents bought land along Fish Creek Road and Little Valley Road, on which they build a log home. The home, which Mr. Vesy used as his summer residence, still stands today.

The family moved from Omaha to California when he was 10, where he lived until 1981, when he moved to Sun City West.

During WWII, he left Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., to serve as a Marine Corps transport pilot in the Pacific Theater. He flew more than 40 missions into combat territory.

Mr. Vesy loved to fly. Although his career was in construction, he usually owned a plane which he and his wife would use to visit friends and relatives around the country.

He was also the owner-broker of Whitney Ranch Realty, Rocklin, Calif., the developer of the Roseville Inn Best Western, Roseville, Calif.; Golden Key Motel, Auburn, Calif., and developer of large housing communities in California and New Mexico.

In addition, he was a member of the Briarwood Country Club and Lord of Life Lutheran Church, both in Sun City West.

Mr. Vesy was an active member of the Estes Park Summer Residents Association, three years as treasurer. He was also an associate member of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Estes Park.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Cecil E. Sr. and Lola (Byrd) Vesy; and by a sister, Vivian Vesy Bixby.

He is survived by his wife, Jane; four children from a previous marriage — Carole Frantz, from Baltimore; Katherine Draeger, from Roseville, Calif.; Mallorie Luna, from Camino, Calif.; and four grandchildren.

Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Sept. 1, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Russell. Rev. Glenn Tombaugh and Rev. Henry Hartman officiated.

Dr. Fagan was born on Jan. 5, 1911, to Benjamin and Alice (Ward) White.

Early in his life he lived in the Bristol, Granada area of Colorado, before attending Sterling College in Sterling. He received his medical degree from Colorado University at Denver.

He returned to Russell and practiced medicine from the mid-1930s until he retired in 1976, after which he worked part-time until the mid-1980s.

Dr. Fagan married Joyce M. Hawes on June 4, 1938, in Russell. After her death on Sept. 7, 1978, he married Esther (Laubbhan) Tague on Dec. 23, 1979, also in Russell.

He was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church, Rotary Club, elks Lodge and Masonic Lodge in Russell. He was also a member of the ISIS Shrine of Salina, Kan., and numerous other national and state medical associations.

He was a summer resident of Estes Park for the past 50 years. He bought the Roger Toll house and owned and showed Arabian horses, for which he took two blue ribbons during the 1960s. He was also a member of the Masons and the Rotary here.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Joyce; and his two brothers, Ward and Briggs White.

Survivors include: his second wife, Esther White; three sons, Ward White, of Washington, D.C.; Daniel White, of Houston; and Brett White, Los Angeles; and three half-sisters, Betty Watters, Odessa, Wash.; Jenny Jo Newby and Margaret Oden, both of Sterling; and four grand-children.

Memorials are suggested to be sent to Russell Regional Hospital or Trinity UMC, both in care of Pohlman’s Mortuary in Russell.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, at the Loveland Good Samaritan Village. Rev. Mel Acheson will officiate. Allnutt Hunter Chapel in Loveland is in charge of arrangements. Burial will take place in Phillipsburg, Kan., at a later date.

Mr. Steffens was born on June 17, 1911, in Brazito, Mo., to Henry Edward and Amanda (Leslie) Steffens. He married Margaret Thompson on Sept. 10, 1939, in Casper, Wyo.

He attended a one-room school near Brazito and then was a member of the first graduating class of Greeley High School — now Greeley Central — in 1928. He went on to graduate from Barnes Commercial College in Denver.

Mr. Steffens worked for Morey Mercantile in Denver, as well as for Home Gas and Electric (now Public Service) in Greeley. On Jan. 1, 1939, he went to work for a newly organized company, Kansas Pipeline and Gas Company — now Kinder-Morgan — at their general offices in Phillipsburg, Kan. At his retirement in 1984, he was the vice president, controller, secretary and a director of the $600 million company.

He has lived in several locales, from Brazito and Eldon, Mo.; to Phillipsburg, Kan., from 1939 to 1971; to Fort Morgan, Greeley from 1990 to 1996, and Loveland since 1996. He had a summer home in Estes Park from 1961 to 1996 and a winter home in Fort Meyers, Fla., from 1971 to 1990.

Mr. Steffens was a president of the Phillipsburg, Kan., Rotary Club, as well as a member of the Rotary’s "Paul Harris Club." He also belong to the Phillipsburg Masonic Lodge and the Methodist Church. He was also one of the organizers of the Phillips County Hospital and an owner and organizer of Royal Brand Roofing — now Tam Ko.

In 1996, he and his wife were instrumental in setting up a scholarship fund for graduates of the Phillipsburg High School — the Fred T. and John H. Steffens Scholarship Trust — which will exist for the life of the school. This scholarship was in memory of the couples’ two sons — John H., who was killed in an auto accident on Sept. 19, 1960, and Fred T., who died on Sept. 19, 1995.

The couple was also a major contributor to the Huck Boyd Foundation, also in Phillipsburg.

He was preceded in death by: his parents; his wife, Margaret, on June 23, 1999; his two sons, Fred T. and John H. Steffens; his three brothers, Lyman, Armon and Eldred Steffens; and his three sisters, Lucille Atkins, Opel Pirott and Helen Goff.

Mr. Steffens was survived by: his sister-in-law, Gladys Steffens, of Johnstown; and several cousins, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Loveland Good Samaritan Village, 2101 S. Garfield Ave., Loveland, CO 80537.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, at the First Presbyterian Church, 219 E. Bijou St., in Colorado Springs.

He was born on Oct. 15, 1918, in Hillsboro, Ill., to Ernest Josiah and Gertrude Arabella (Edwards) Kessinger. He received a bachelor’s degree in music from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill.

During World War II, Mr. Kessinger served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a radio repairmen with the 80th Depot Repair Squadron in Karachi and Panagarth, India, and was honorably discharged in March of 1946.

While working on his master’s in music at the University of Colorado at Boulder, he met nursing student Gloria Edell Cowan. The couple married on June 24, 1947, in Tulia, Texas.

Mr. Kessinger subsequently also earned master’s degrees in Christian education at McCormick Seminary in Chicago and in theology at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

After serving as a student pastor, he was ordained into what is now the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. on Sept. 28, 1952. Through the years, he served as pastor of the Arvada Presbyterian Church from 1952 to 1957, associate pastor of the Welshire Presbyterian Church in Denver from 1957 to 1962, and a pastor of the Community Church of the Rockies in Estes Park from 1962 to 1976. He retired in 1983 as pastor from the First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Ore., but returned as minister of visitation for the First Presbyterian Church in Medford, Ore., in 1987.

During his 34-year ministry, he married more than 900 couples and lead various youth groups. For a time, he also served as chaplain of a Civil Air Patrol squadron.

In 1992, the couple moved to Colorado Springs to be near their children.

As a young man, he sang with the St. Louis Symphony as a soloist, as well as with the Wheaton Glee Club, but continued singing throughout his lifetime, especially with church and community choirs.

Mr. Kessinger was a skilled fly fisherman, and especially loved fishing in Colorado and Oregon. He particularly loved birds. He was also active in service groups such as the Kiwanis, the Jaycees and various chambers of commerce.

Mr. Kessinger is survived by: his wife of more than 53 years, Gloria; two daughters, Paula Megorden and Terri Cotten, both of Colorado Springs; a son, Greg Kessinger, of Littleton; a brother, Newell LaVern Kessinger, of Winter Springs, Fla.; and seven grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Rocky Mountain Park Associates, Inc., Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO 80517.

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